Sunday, March 7, 2010

Analysis of "My 5 Keys to Victory for Fulham against Tottenham"

Fulham played a 0-0 draw against Tottenham yesterday at Craven Cottage. I thought both teams played well. It is my opinion that this match was a lost opportunity for Fulham. Now it is time to analyze "My 5 keys to Victory for Fulham against Tottenham" which I wrote about on Friday.1. It is imperative that Fulham score the first goal. Going into the match I thought if Fulham scored first they could set the pace for the rest of the match. Since there was no scoring at all, I think at times both teams set the pace and had advantages.

2. Nicky Shorey just needs to continue to play solid defence. Ido think Shorey played well along with the others on defence. Even though Tottenham had very good pressure during the match they couldn't breakthrough. The defense kept them in the game, and led to a few opportunities for Fulham.

3. Roman Pavlyuchenko and the rest of the strikers need to be contained.Pavlyuchenko I thought was contained pretty well. There always seemed to be a Fulhamplayer right on him. At times there were several around Roman. There is no question he is very dangerous. I think he showed glimpses of his talent, but he didn't have the room to really maneuver. I actually thought Peter Crouch played well and almost put a header past Schwarzer. The Fulham defense did their job.

4. Fulham need to shoot often at HeurehloGomes. I think this "key" really hurt Fulham. The Cottagers had a few chances but not enough to get that "breakthrough goal". This is a credit to Gomes who I thought was very good in this game. He had a very nice save on a strike by Damien Duff in the second half. Also in the second half he made a nice save on a header from ZoltanGera. Gomeswas solid and obviously did not have any confidence issues. There just weren't enough scoring chances for Fulham to rattle the Tottenham goalkeeper. Again, you have to give credit to Tottenham. At times during the match they were in control, and in the Fulham half.

5. Fulham need to stop LukaModric. Going into the match I thought this was the number 1 key to the game. Modric was dangerous during the match along with Wilson Palacios and Gareth Bale on the left side in midfield. Like I said prior, they put a considerable amount of pressure on Fulhambut just could not breakthrough. I think Danny Murphy not playing really hurt Fulham. He really is a good passer and we could have used his ability in the midfield. Etuhumade a couple of horrible passes. Jonathan Greening I thought was steady, but did not push the ball up like Danny Murphy can. For the most part though Fulham did stop LukaModric.

In review, Fulham played well and did perform positively on many of my "keys to victory". However, they did not win the match and only tied. They played well on defence and had a few scoring chances. They just did not have enough shots on net.

In closing Tottenham is a highly talented and skilled club. To beat them in the replay it is going to take a better performance with more scoring chances. I have also read some criticism on Fulham "playing 10 behind the ball." I do appreciate other views of the match. I happen to disagree with this opinion. I don't think Fulham were playing for a draw. I believe they were going for the win. They did create some decent chances in the second half. Danny Murphy not playing I think changed how Fulham played in this match. Both teams had injuries that probably affected how the match went. In the replay let's hope many of the injured players are back for both teams. I look forward to the replay.

Some obvious stuff there. It was a boring match, and both teams seemed to be happy to play out the draw. Tottenham are a different team at the Lane, and I, along with most, will expect them to win reasonably comfortably.

We missed the opportunity to give our youngster a go like Townsend a very exciting winger.The Fulham pitch was very bad not has bad has Wigans but bad. So why did Fulham water is when the weather was freezing Pavlyucheko hurt himself and struggled afterwards ,the draw was a fair result and lets hope we get Lennon back with is strange injury i cant wait to get the little man back .COYSWTR4-1DAVSPURS